The persistence of the planned landscape: the case of Winter Park, Florida

Abstract

This study examines the historical evolution of a late nineteenth century planned community in the USA: Winter Park, Florida. Much research has been done on the genesis of planned communities, emphasizing their nature as alternatives to patterns of post‐war suburbanization. Less work has been done in the area of analysing the ways in which planned landscapes and the social relations they engender persist over time. This study maps this socio‐spatial persistence in the case of Winter Park showing the ways in which elements of social organization that were prominent in the town’s late nineteenth century genesis persisted and/or changed over its first century of inhabitation.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to acknowledge the Winter Park Public Library and the Olin Library at Rollins College for their support of this research through the Rhea Marsh and Dorothy Lockhart Smith Winter Park History Research Grant.

Notes

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2. R. B. Stephenson, Visions of Eden: Environmentalism, Urban Planning, and City Building in St. Petersburg, Florida, 1900–1995. Columbus: Ohio State University, 1997. A. Portes and A. Stepick, City on the Edge: The Transformation of Miami. Berkeley: California, 1993.

3. A. Duany, E. Plater‐Zyberk and J. Speck, Suburban Nation: The Rise and Fall of the American Dream. New York: North Point, 2000.

4. D. Frantz and C. Collins, Celebration U.S.A.: Living in Disney’s Brave New Town. New York: Henry Holt, 1999.

5. C. MacDowell, Chronological History of Winter Park Florida. Winter Park, Fl: Self‐published, 1950.

6. W. F. Blackman, History of Orange County, Florida. Chuluota, Fl: Mickler House, 1927, p. 169.

7. O. E. Chapman and L. A. Chase, Winter Park. Winter Park, FL: Self‐published, n.d., p. 2.

8. Ibid, p. 2.

9. G. Mormino, Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2005. R. B. Stephenson, The Roots of the New Urbanism: John Nolen’s Garden City Ethic. Journal of Planning History 1, 2 (2002) 99–123.

10. O. E. Chapman and L. A. Chase, op. cit. [7], p. 3.

11. O. E. Chapman and L. A. Chase, Untitled Brochure, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library, c. 1884, p. 1.

12. Leo Marx classified Jefferson’s ‘pastoral ideal’ as being consistent with the development of a ‘middle landscape’ of small‐scale farming which would engender the desirable attitudes of egalitarianism and democracy in the nascent republic. See L. Marx, The Machine in the Garden. London: Oxford University Press, 1964.

13. R. Shalhope, Thomas Jefferson’s Republicanism and Antebellum Southern Thought. Journal of Southern History 42 (1976) 529–56.

14. W. F. Blackman, op. cit. [6], p. 171.

15. Ibid, p. 171.

16. C. MacDowell, op. cit. [5], p. 30.

17. Constitution of the Town Improvement Association, Orlando: Reporter Print, 1887.

18. G. R. Mormino, op. cit. [9], p. 73.

19. Top City Planner Due to Arrive Next Week. Orlando Evening Star (February 18, 1956), ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

20. Richard E. Foglesong, Prologue to Light Rail: The Interstate‐4 Controversy in Winter Park. Winter Park, FL: Rollins College, 1999.

21. Rotival Arrives Next Week for City Planning. Winter Park Sun (March 8, 1956), ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library. For a comprehensive discussion of Rotival’s planning career see Carola Hein, Maurice Rotival: French planning on a world‐scale (Part I). Planning Perspectives 17 (2002) 247–65 and Carola Hein, Maurice Rotival: French planning on a world‐scale (Part II). Planning Perspectives 17 (2002) 325–44.

22. Le Corbusier, The City of To‐morrow. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1985, p. 5.

23. H. Holt, Ideals for the Development of Rollins into the Best Small College of Liberal Arts in the United States. Winter Park, Fl: Rollins College, 1926, p. 7.

24. Ruth Hardman, Rotival Engaged to Draw Master Plan, To Propose New Expressway Route, Urges City to Annex More Areas. Winter Park Herald (March 1, 1956). ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

25. New Killarney Crossing Would Save $2 Million. Winter Park Herald (May 31, 1956). ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

26. Rotival’s Coming Best News in Ten Years Says Resident. Winter Park Herald (May 31, 1956). ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

27. Morse Boulevard Landscaped Central Axis in Dream City of 1980. Undated [probably 1956] newspaper clipping. ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

28. Rotival Offers New Plan. Winter Park Herald (May 31, 1956). ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

29. Highlights of the Rotival Report. Winter Park Herald (May 31, 1956). ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

30. R. Hardman, op. cit. [24].

31. Winter Park Hub in Waterway System. Undated [probably 1956] newspaper clipping. ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

32. Rotival’s Amazing Predictions are no Exaggerations. Winter Park Herald (June 7, 1956). ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

33. Taxpayers League Asserts Rotival Blamed for Expressway Stalemate. Winter Park Herald (September 20, 1956). ‘Maurice Rotival’ file, Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

34. Richard E. Foglesong, Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando. New Haven: Yale, 2001.

35. Winter Park City Commission Minutes for April 2, 1952; May 19, 1952; June 9, 1952; on the reputation of Chief Buchanan, interview with former Winter Park Mayor Allen Trovillion, January 28, 2003.

36. Interview with former Winter Park Mayor Allen Trovillion, January 28, 2003.

37. City Reaps $4,120,000 From Sale of Sewer, Road Bonds. Winter Park Sun Herald (August 5, 1965). Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

38. Allen Trovillion, People: Winter Park’s Biggest Asset. Winter Park Sun Herald (August 12, 1965). Winter Park History and Archives Collection, Winter Park Public Library.

39. City of Winter Park, Comprehensive Plan, Volume I. Winter Park, FL: City Commission, 1976, p. 1.

40. City of Winter Park Community Redevelopment Agency, September 2004 Update for Active Projects. Winter Park, FL: Community Redevelopment Agency, 2004.

41. Sheri Owens, From Other Side of Winter Park, Fla., Tracks, Rehab Effort Falls Short, Orlando Sentinel (November 12, 2001).

42. Noelle Haner, Art School Helping Fund New Winter Park Museum. Orlando Business Journal (August 13, 2004).

43. David Johnson is quoted in Will Wellons, 3 Commissioners Back 1 Board for Countywide Planning, Orlando Sentinel (August 2, 1989).

44. City of Winter Park, Winter Park Comprehensive Plan. Winter Park, FL: City of Winter Park, 1991, p. T‐56.

45. Interview, Joe Terranova, January 24, 2003.

46. Interview, Kenneth Murrah, January 30, 2003.

47. Doris Bloodsworth, Light‐Rail Foes Want Winter Park Mayor Out. Orlando Sentinel (February 5, 1998).

48. P. Lomartire, How Much Traffic Can Orlando Bear. Palm Beach Post (June 27, 1999), p. 1A.

49. H. Bartling, A. Peterson and B. Kinsey, Urban Regimes and Transportation Referenda: a Comparative, Spatial Approach. Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Northeastern Political Science Association, November 11, 2004.

50. C. Sherman, Activists in Winter Park Fret About Rail. Orlando Sentinel (August 9, 2006), p. D7.

51. Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Lynx Annual Budget, Fiscal Year 2000–2001. Orlando: Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, n.d.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hugh Bartling

Hugh Bartling is an Assistant Professor in the Public Policy Studies Program at DePaul University. His teaching and research focus is on suburban development and public policies surrounding planned communities. He is the co‐editor (with Matthew J. Lindstrom) of Suburban Sprawl: Culture, Theory, Politics (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003).